Oklahoma St is a 17 point favorite against Purdue in the Heart of Dallas Bowl at the Cotton Bowl.

The 7-5 Oklahoma St Cowboys take on the 6-6 Purdue Bolilermakers in the Heart of Dallas Bowl Tuesday in the Cotton Bowl. This is the second meeting all-time between the schools. Purdue beat Oklahoma St in the 1997 Alamo Bowl 33-20.

Purdue is 9-7 in bowl games all time. The Boilermakers have won 2 straight bowl games including 37-32 over Western Michigan in the Little Caesars Bowl last season. Oklahoma St is 14-8 all time in bowl games. The Cowboys have also won 2 straight bowl games, including 41-38 in overtime against Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl last season.

Purdue fired coach Danny Hope despite the fact that he led Purdue to two straight bowl games. Patrick Higgins will be the interim coach for the bowl game. Higgins is the wide receivers coach for the Boilermakers but he was also the offensive coordinator for the last 3 games as Gary Nord was out with a back injury. Purdue hired Darrell Hazell as the coach for next season from Kent State.

The Boilermakers were 3-5 in the Big Ten this season. Purdue started off 3-1 including a narrow 20-17 loss at now #1 Notre Dame. The Boilermakers then lost 5 straight games, before winning their last 3 games to become bowl eligible. Purdue has other losses at home to Michigan 44-13, Wisconsin 38-14, and Penn St 34-9, along with road losses at Ohio St 29-22 in overtime and Minnesota 44-28. The Boilermakers have home wins over Eastern Kentucky 48-6, Eastern Michigan 54-16, Marshall 51-41, and Indiana 56-35 to close out the regular season along with road wins at Iowa 27-24 and Illinois 20-17. Purdue is 6-6 ATS and the total is 7-4 this season.

Purdue is averaging 405.7 yards per game on offense including 240.7 passing yards and 165 rushing yards. Purdue is outscoring teams 29.9-29 this season. Purdue is +3 in turnovers with 22 giveaways. The Boilermakers are averaging 51.4 penalty yards per game and have allowed 22 sacks this sacks. Purdue is 90/213 on third and fourth down conversions and 37/47 scoring in the red zone with 30 touchdowns. On defense, Purdue is allowing 406.8 yards per game, including 227.5 passing yards and 179.3 rushing yards. Purdue has forced 20 sacks and 25 turnovers this season. Boilermaker opponents are 84/201 on third and fourth down conversions and 40/46 scoring in the red zone with 29 touchdowns. Purdue has 3 pick sixes and a kickoff return for a touchdown.

Purdue has used 3 quarterbacks this season. Robert Marve has completed 145 of 219 passes (66.2%) for 1,522 yards with 13 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Caleb TerBush has completed 108 of 189 yards (57.1%) for 1,150 yards with 12 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, along with 49 carries, 63 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. Rob Henry usually takes a few snaps a game. He has 216 passing yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception, along with 74 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Marve will start. TerBush hasn’t played in 3 games. Henry could see a snap or two.

Running back Akeem Shavers has 167 carries, 778 yards and 6 touchdowns, along with 14 catches, 316 yards and 3 touchdowns. Akeem Hunt has 42 carries, 335 yards and 2 touchdowns, along with 13 catches, 204 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also has a kick return for a touchdown. Ralph Bolden has 46 carries for 310 yards, along with 5 catches for 58 yards. He is questionable with a hamstring injury. Brandon Cottom and Raheem Mostert will also get a few carries. Mostert is probable with a knee injury.

Receiver Antavian Edison has 57 catches, 625 yards and 8 touchdowns. O.J. Ross has 51 catches, 425 yards and 2 touchdowns. Gary Bush has 41 catches, 360 yards and 7 touchdowns. Crosby Wright, Dolapo Macarthy, and tight end Gabe Holmes will also get some catches. Holmes has 2 two touchdowns but is probable with an undisclosed injury.

Oklahoma St was 5-4 in the Big 12 under coach Mike Gundy. The Cowboys have losses at Arizona 59-38, Kansas St 44-30, Oklahoma 51-48 in overtime and 41-34 against Baylor to close out the regular season, along with a home loss against Texas 41-36. OSU has home wins over Savannah St 84-0, Louisiana-Lafayette 65-24, Iowa St 31-10, TCU 36-14, West Virginia 55-34 and against Texas Tech 59-21. The Cowboys also have a 20-14 road win at Kansas. The Cowboys are 6-5 ATS and the total is 7-4 this season.

Oklahoma St is averaging 548.9 yards per game on offense, including 333.4 passing yards and 215.5 rushing yards. The Cowboys are outscoring teams 45-29 this season. OSU is in the top 6 nationally in total offense, passing, and scoring. Even the rushing attack is #22. The Cowboys are -5 in turnovers with 22 giveaways. OSU is averaging 60 penalty yards per game and has allowed 10 sacks. The Cowboys are 87/185 on third and fourth down conversions, and 61/66 scoring in the red zone with 44 touchdowns. Oklahoma St is allowing 426.2 yards per game on defense, including 285.7 passing yards and 140.6 rushing yards. OSU is #117 out of 124 teams in pass defense, but #36 in rush defense. The Cowboys have forced 22 sacks this season and 17 turnovers. OSU opponents are 87/227 on third and fourth down conversions, and 40/51 scoring in the red zone with 29 touchdowns. OSU has 3 special teams touchdowns this season, but has allowed 7.

Oklahoma St quarterback J.W. Walsh was reportedly out for the season with a knee injury but he returned unexpectedly late in the season. He has passed for 1,478 yards with 11 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, and also rushed for 277 yards and 7 touchdowns. Wes Lunt started the first three games of the season but missed a few games with a knee injury. He was injured in the Kansas St game and Clint Chelf came in and did well. Chelf started the last four games, but Lunt was recovering from a concussion. Lunt is questionable against Purdue. Gundy said Chelf will start against Purdue, but Walsh could see some action in short yardage situations. Lunt is 80/128 passing (63.9%) for 1,096 yards with 6 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Chelf is 102/175 passing (58.3%) for 1,391 yards with 12 touchdowns and 6 interceptions, along with 27 carries for 154 yards. It doesn’t seem to matter who the quarterback is, as all three have had success in the explosive offense.

Running back Joseph Randle has 257 carries, 1,351 yards and 14 touchdowns, along with 28 catches, for 224 yards. Desmond Roland has 4 rushing touchdowns, and Jeremy Smith has 7. Roland also has a kickoff return for a touchdown. Receiver Josh Stewart has 96 catches, 1,154 yards and 7 touchdowns, along with a rushing touchdown. Blake Jackson has 28 catches, 565 yards and 2 touchdowns. Charlie Moore has 31 catches, 500 yards and 5 touchdowns. Isaiah Anderson has 17 catches for 329 yards and 3 touchdowns. Tracy Moore has 20 catches, 259 yards and 4 touchdowns. He is out indefinitely with an ankle injury. John Goodlett has only 5 catches, but two of them went for touchdowns. Kye Staley also has 2 touchdown catches. Nine Cowboys are listed on the injury report including 5 defensive players.

Purdue is 4-1 ATS in non-conference games, 7-2-1 after a straight up win of 20 points or more, 3-1-1 after passing for 280 yards or more, 5-12-1 after a straight up win, 2-5 after a cover, 7-18-2 after allowing 280 passing yards or more, 3-8-2 on fieldturf, 1-4 in bowl games, after allowing 450 yards or more, and in neutral site games.

Oklahoma St is 7-0 ATS after allowing 200 rushing yards or more, 9-1 after failing to cover, 6-1 after gaining more than 450 total yards, 12-3 after allowing more than 280 passing yards, 6-2 after allowing more than 40 points, 21-8 after passing for more than 280 yards, 13-5 on fieldturf, 5-2 after a straight up loss, and overall, and 2-6 after rushing for more than 200 yards.

Oklahoma St could have a little bit of a letdown in the Heart of Dallas Bowl after playing in the Fiesta Bowl last year. The Cowboys are clearly the better team, but I think Purdue hangs around in what should be a shootout between two teams that struggle on defense.

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